[TJ] 2020.04.08 News (CD) EP
 

UPCH-29360 ¥1,700(税抜) / ¥1,870(税込)

While EMF had it's downtime, I'm sure some of your would have seen that Tokyo Jihen had reunited and announced a tour for 2020. With that, they have also now announced a brand new EP, entitled "News", featuring 5 new tracks, available in April. With it, they have revamped the old Jihen website (link).

The first single from this was released on New Years Eve:

Jihen

According to Kronkekodow, there is a numbered first press run, which will go into standard versions after it is sold out.

No further details at this time, but will update with tracklist etc later.

Wow, I did not expect this at all. I wonder what prompted this? I always figured they broke up because the project just reached its natural end but apparently not.

No comment about the new track.

Phew. Was worried EMF wouldn't see the light of day again!

Pretty pleased with this announcement (and not just because I predicted a 'News' album at some point back in the day :P). A quality EP would be refreshing compared to committing to an entire new album, especially when the album format seems less Ringo's jam these days. The 'symmetry' of this one vs. Color Bars is pretty cool too.

I'm guessing Ringo's track will be the next promo single? Looking forward to hearing how a nu-Jihen track sounds under her pen.

As for this first single, it's kind of a mess in a classically Ukigumo way, but charming nonetheless.

I’m hoping ‘News’ is just a reintroduction to individual band-mates, and that the LP afterwards has more of an interesting exploration/synthesis of the TJ members’ talents. As far as this song is concerned, it sounds like Ukigumo’s/Petrolz music with a ‘fun’ filter — and I fear that’s what the Tokyo Jihen sound is, at worst.

I don’t know. I’d like to hear TJ music where the blueprint/signature is less obvious.

I’d also like to come out as a Petrolz fan, btw. There are some absolute tracks on the last two records.

I'm with you Scribble, in those years I've spent without posting here I fell in love with the funkiness in their sound

Hey we get a second Hata track. That's literally the most interesting thing about this one atm.

So many Japanese acts coming back from the dead recently and I still didn't think this was going to happen. I'm still looking forward to their future but Tokyo Jihen needed to come back with more of a bang if they want me to be hype about this.

so did anyone manage to score tickets to their tour? the resale prices are insane (literally 10 times the original price) i have to say.

I agree -- the new single sounds very much like Petrolz featuring Shiina Ringo. And although I'm a Petrolz fan as well, I was surprised by how jarring the song is for a first single. Either way, I'm excited to hear more, good or bad.

New song "永遠の不在証明" out on the 29th, will be the theme to the new Detective Conan movie, preview here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1XWZQxH7MXM
Lyrics


News Special site https://www.tokyojihen.com/news-ep/

Tour is still happening despite pretty much every other band’s tour being cancelled. Japanese government sent out guidelines recommending everyone to cancel events. But they’re offering refunds if you can’t or don’t want to go.

Good for the fans I suppose, although after what happened to Trish from Broadcast these circumstances are slightly worrisome. (It'll be fine.)

Anyway, look forward to hearing the new tune and all that. Based on the title, I'm gonna go out on a limb and guess... spy theme? Does anyone have a read on the lyrics?

Thoughts on the second single:

"Musically it's a 10, I love the solos. The band are giving it their all.

But... and this is a big but... Ringo seems half hearted here. Her delivery doesn't really sound wired to the rest of the band. Hopefully the live will be better.

Studio version as it stands overall: 6/10"

Holding out that it'd be the gem from all this, like his raccoondog cat song in their last EP/Maxi.


It shouldn't be TJ's sound, from all their discog, they're richer than that. :(
Speaking as a Petrolz fans as well.

The Scarlet Alibi

Probably everyone's already heard the second single, which is the SR-composed song.

She really can only write spy songs now

I guess it's the only bizarre niche that no one else is in?

Billie Eilish just released a better one

Well, it's the theme song for the new Detective Conan movie so it kinda fits.

Fresh PV!

Pretty cool for a 'comeback' PV, and digging the follow-up (or lead-up?) to the Niwatori to Hebi to Buta PV. (I guess this means SR and TJ are both canon? :P)

Definitely makes me appreciate the song more to see the guys rock out at the end. The track and space theme have pretty strong Discovery/Daihakken vibes, which makes me wonder if that were an intentional choice.

I gotta say, whatever interest (excitement???) I had for this EP is kinda gone after the 3 songs we've heard from it. They're OK but the fun that made Jihen for me is all but gone, and Ringo sounds distant on all of them. I hope it's just premature impressions and it turns out good, but I'm thinking it's likely gonna be a worse EP than Color Bars at this stage.

Interesting. Haven't heard the third song yet but I'm expecting something on par with (or at least as inconsistent as) CB. I really wasn't a fan of Izawa or Kameda's contributions. The way they're ramping up makes me wonder if they're planning a studio album proper which would probably make for a more stimulating release.

Especially now that Ringo has all this time to kill til 2021 and all haha. It could be more paint by numbers though, who knows.

I dig the PV and them rocking out at the end. It's not a Noudouteki Sanpunkan-level return to form but I'll take it.

It's also funny that since my sister is a big Detective Conan fan our fandoms are intersecting right now in a very interesting way. I guess the plot of the new movie takes place at the "World Sports Games" so that's likely the reason they had Ringo pen a theme song in the first place.

Could be my sound setup, but Ringo's vocals in this PV sound different from the single release?

The song's good but not mindblowing. I think it's very Phase 2, for better or worse.

Here's my review of the EP


https://deadgrandmablog.wordpress.com/2020/04/08/review-tokyo-jihen-news/

Tokyo Jihen's YouTube channel put up 20 songs from various concert DVDs/Blu-Rays in their back catalog. EMI put up 3 more that are country-blocked since they're greedy idiots. Not anything new for the diehards but cool for some of us who haven't seen these or not in legit 1080p

I gotta say, seeing Koi no Urikomi from Dynamite Out in 1080p was a huge treat:

Koi no Urikomi

FYI, Ringo's solo account has also uploaded some more lives from the Toutaikai concerts from 2013.

As for the News EP... pleasantly surprised actually. Markedly better than Color Bars was - more consistent, more unified. While CB musically and thematically resembled 5 individuals itching to do their own thing, News really sounds like the gang is glad to be back together again.

The shining tracks here are Uruuruuruu and Neko no Te wa Karite. Uru sounds like a breezier, sunnier Omatsuri Sawagi while Neko is the most interesting of the bunch. Otherwise, Eien no Fuzai Shomei and Genyaku Player sound very reminiscent of Discovery-era Jihen, which makes me wonder if they could be holdovers or if the band is intentionally trying to create continuity? Either way, if these tracks sound familiar, they're still pretty solid.

Not their most ambitious or experimental release, but that's not necessarily what I'm expecting from a 5-track EP. Whether this is pure promotion for Ringo Olympics or if TJ is sticking around for a while, it feels nice to have them back.

Tokyo Jihen - News

Tokyo Jihen resumes their legacy of creating professional-quality music that moves no needles. Do I need to elaborate any further?

To be fair, this is maybe the band's overall best output to date. I made a similar note on Shiina's latest record, but the recording sounds phenomenal. Clearly someone entered Shiina's orbit that has a real ear for production because the sound is pristine, clear, and human in a way that Tokyo Jihen has never been. It is such a strange thing to note that I pulled out the older songs just to make sure it wasn't my headphones. Each musician is so creative at what they do and this is only the first time in their catalog that they sound so. The opener, "Erabarezaru Kokumin" sounds smooth and slinky like the band often tried but failed to do. The song does left turn and while I don't dig the second half of the song quite as much, it remains interesting throughout.

The only dud is "Uru Uru Uruu" and even that is no face plant like Tokyo Jihen is accustomed. It sounds so reminiscent of "Erabarezaru" that at first I thought the band was doing some kind of variation-on-a-theme thing. Alas.

Kameda's song is good, as his songs usually are. Hata's song is good. I was dissapointed there was no left turn like "Hontou no Tokoro" off Color Bars, but the song is very nice. Even Shiina's song pretty good. All pretty good, but at the end I have not registered that the EP ended.

I wish there was more to talk about. It's all very nice. As always I'm left wanting more. The sexy songs should feel sexier, the fun songs should jump, the cool songs should chill or have sopistication. The goofy songs might as well go all in (but I'm glad there are none here.) Nothing really rises to the occasion nor soars above, "fine." Tokyo Jihen has been called a gateway to more interesting music - Shiina Ringo-proper, Petrolz, H Zett M, anything really. In the year 2020, I'm not sure what News offers the entry level listener.

Now that the dust settled on their "career" we can safely say "Gunjou Byori" was their zenith, right? Far and above their best song; ticks all the boxes. Correct me if I'm wrong, but that was their first song. "Osca" as a noble second.

nooo, don't say that!
Gunjou byori is a great song, and it has that perfect pop song feeling, but it's not better than Sounan or dynamite out's Himitsu.
Sounan slowly builds the tension that is barely released during the chorus
and finally at the end we have a release with the instruments, which is brilliant because the whole song is just Ringo singing without a proper break
any band could have this same idea, but I doubt any other song with the same structure would sound half as amazing as Sounan does, because it has that Ringo mojo inside that now, unfortunately, we can rarely find in her songs anymore
As for Himitsu, the live version, for me it's a natural evolution of gunjou biyori, and it has that same perfect pop hit vibe as well
however, while gunjou is a happy song that you sing while skipping happily under the sun, himitsu is a song you listen to while cooking up a polite but accertive speach to a person that made you really really angry an hour before or some similar situation
And I know this might be an unpopular opinion, but I think even Shuraba (single version) is far superior to Osca

Ooh yeah, good point. "Shuraba" is their best song. But that's like the cool kid, hard core pick. Gunjou and Osca have that universal appeal.

For the record, I still don't like "Osca." I still think its kind of a mess, but in a overthought and calculated way. I get its appeal though, and approaches legit energy.

Wow someone liked the Kameda song. i thought it was borderline asinine. I really liked all the other songs though especially track 1. Nice and creamy. Theres enough here for me to want to listen to a full length album but I'm not sure that's gonna happen.

Also, no one really discussed this but did anyone keep up with the news of their most recent tour? They went ahead with the first couple of dates but eventually bowed to pressure and cancelled the rest. Some people were really pissed that they were gonna go ahead with the tour at first.

Sounan is still my favourite song of them all but GB comes close.